I decided, since Merlin can't give as much sass as he normally does by being Deaf, I should make Gwen sassy as hell! I love her and I think adding more sass to her it will make Arthur and her relationship develop faster. Enjoy!

-Ebop


Merlin yawned as he entered the armory. He had placed all of Arthur's armor there after he finished cleaning and polishing it last night. He groaned as he massaged his hands and shook them out. The repetition of scrubbing had made his hands sore and red. Merlin was not watching where he was walking and he tripped on a stray helmet that had fallen on the floor. Merlin groaned as he looked at his now sore, red, and bleeding hands.

Great. Just great! Why the hell am I so clumsy? Merlin thought to himself. He sat up and looked around the armory. He did not see anyone, so he looked back at his hands. He pictured them healed and pain free. He felt his magic bubble inside of him and then felt relief as his magic healed his hands. He sighed and made to stand up, but then stopped suddenly.

He felt magic, and it was close to him. Merlin stayed in a crouched position and allow his senses to feel where the magic was coming from. His senses led him to a shield. A shield with three snakes on it. Merlin frowned and crept closer to the magic emanating shield.

He leapt back when he saw one of the snakes eyes blink closed. He took a deep breath and went to pick up the shield, only to have a sword stop his movements. Merlin looked up to see Knight Valiant glaring at him and Merlin stepped back. He saw the man's lips moving and Merlin continued to step back, only stopping when the sword was placed at his throat menacingly.

Merlin quickly pointed to his ears and shook his head. The Knight did not seem to understand, so Merlin tried to tell him, only for garbled sounds to come out of his mouth. Speaking was embarrassing for Merlin, every time he tried to speak in the past, people would laugh at him. And the same thing happened now, the Knight lowered his sword and laughed heartedly at the servant. Merlin tried not to flush as he grabbed Arthur's armor and left the armory as quickly as he could.

He tried not to think of his embarrassment as took a few calming breaths during his walk toward Arthur's chambers. Once inside, he got busy setting up all the armor in an organized way so it would be easier to remember what went where. Merlin took a few more calming breaths, his embarrassment fading somewhat, and after a few minutes Arthur entered the chambers. He looked at the table, then Merlin.

"You did all this on your own?" Merlin nodded. "Without cheating?" Arthur continued to inqyire. Merlin shuffled his feet.

"I started with magic, then Gaius yelled at me. I finished without it." Merlin admitted. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Let's see if you can get me into it without forgetting anything." Merlin nodded and started. Merlin put on Arthur's hauberk and surcoat, followed by the gorget, vambraces, pauldron, and couter. Next, his mail coif, belt, sword belt, dagger, and sword. Merlin then handed Arthur his helmet. Arthur looked impressed.

"That was much better. Not that it could have got any worse." Merlin rolled his eyes.

"I am a fast learner." Merlin said as he nodded at the prince. "Good luck my friend." Arthur nodded back at him and they walked down to the arena once again.

Merlin watched as Arthur fought his next opponent and won. He smiled, until he saw Knight Valiant walk into the arena to fight one of Camelot's own: Sir Ewan.

Merlin watched with worry as Valiant knocked down Ewan. When he landed heavily on his back, Merlin saw Ewan's helmet roll off. Valiant pined the man with his shield, Merlin felt a surge of subtle magic and his eyes widened. Valiant hit Ewan and stood up. The crowed cheered for him but Merlin immediately jumped the fence to tend to the fallen knight. He saw Gaius rushing in the arena as well, the same worry on his face.

"I felt magic." Merlin signed to Gaius who nodded his understanding as he quickly looked over the knight. Gaius raised his hand and two guards picked up Sir Ewan to bring him to the physician chambers. Merlin stood up and saw Morgana and Gwen looking at him with fear in their eyes. He nodded to them and then exited the arena with a bow to the king.

After the tournament ended for the day, Merlin was excused from his duties to assist Gaius. Merlin entered their chambers and ignored Gaius annoyed look when the door was slammed shut.

"How is he?" Merlin asked as he pointed to Ewan. Gaius stepped over to the knight and beckoned Merlin to his side.

"It's most odd. Look at this. See these two small wounds. Looks like a snake bite." Merlin's expression turned stoney as he saw the wounds.

"Can you heal him?" Gaius shook his head.

"I have to extract the venom from the snake that it him to make an antidote. If he doesn't get the antidote, he will die." Merlin nodded.

"I felt magic when he fell. And I felt magic in the armory. It led me to a shield that has three snakes on it. I swear, I saw one of the snakes eyes blink." Gaius eyes widened and he shook his head in disbelief.

"You are speaking of Knight Valiant. You are accusing a noble! You need to be careful of who you accuse." Gaius chastised the young man. Merlin simply turned and walked out of the chambers without looking back.

Merlin crept through the castle toward the the guest wing. He allowed his magic to guide him to the shield and he quietly looked in the crack of the door. He saw Valiant holding a mouse and Merlin looked on, fascinated. Valiant was talking, he knew that, then the snakes came out of the shield! They ate the mouse, Merlin, shocked, stepped back quickly and ran away, unknowing that Valiant heard and attempted to follow. Valiant gave up the chase when he could find no one.

Merlin bounded back into the physician chambers and looked at Gaius.

"I've seen the snakes come alive out of Valiant's shield. He is using magic." Gaius stopped chopping herbs and raised his eyebrow.

"Are you sure? There is no chance you may be mistaken?" Merlin glared at the old man.

"The snake ate a mouse. And, I know magic when I see it AND feel it." Merlin was becoming frustrated at his father.

"You know you need proof! I fear you will land yourself in trouble, for example. How will you explain why you were in Valiant's chambers?" Merlin took a deep breath to calm his frustration, seeing a few bottles beginning to vibrate and break on their shelves.

"He is using magic to cheat in the tournament! You always tell me to not use my magic for gain or for power. This knight is doing both! And you refuse to help!" Gaius stood abruptly and approached Merlin.

"You can't go accusing a knight of using magic without proof! The king would never accept the word of a servant over the word of a knight! Especially a deaf servant!"

Merlin growled and left abruptly. He did not want to hear his father telling him that he could do nothing because he was a lowly servant. And that he was deaf. Merlin felt tears fill his eyes. He was proud of being deaf, he was the same as everyone else! But this morning with Valiant laughing at him, and now Gaius saying his deafness was a reason why no one would take his word seriously, cut him deeply.

Merlin was not paying attention to where he was going, he became aware of his surroundings when he found himself outside a familiar door. He raised his hand and knocked. He only needed to wait a few seconds before it opened to show Gwen. She looked surprised to see him. Her surprise changed to worry when she saw the tears in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" She asked immediately, he shook his head, not wanting to talk. He opened his arms and he felt a tear escape his eye. Gwen immediately hugged him tightly. Merlin closed his eyes to fight more frustrated tears that threatened to fall.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he opened his eyes to see a worried Morgana. He immediately stood back, shook his head to clear his eyes, and walked away. He knew the women would be looking at him with worried expressions, but he didn't care. He walked toward the battlements and sat down until well after the sun went down.

When the stars were out for a long while, Merlin finally stood and began to walk back to his chambers. He ignored Gaius, and the food on the table, and strode into his room. He picked up his book and read until he fell asleep.


Merlin was irritated and frustrated the next day, but he tried not to show it. He was happy that Arthur was too distracted to notice Merlin was not complaining about his chores. Merlin looked over to Arthur's next opponent. The knight waiting for Arthur was huge! He looked like a mountain with legs!

"You have to fight that?!" Merlin asked incredulously. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Yes, and he's strong as a bear. But he is slow." Merlin saw the spark in Arthur's eyes and grinned. Arthur grinned back at Merlin and nodded.

Arthur walked into the arena and Merlin glanced around the stands. He smiled when he saw Morgana and Gwen looking at Arthur's opponent the same way he did.

Morgana felt eyes on her and she looked toward where she knew Merlin to be standing. She saw him looking at her and Gwen with humor. She glanced toward Uther and saw that he was too focused on his son fighting the mountain of a man.

"Are you ok?" She asked him, she saw Merlin's eyes grow wide as he looked over to where the king sat. Satisfied that the king did not see Morgana signing with him, he nodded and gave her a tight smile.

Morgana quickly turned back to the duel and saw Arthur win without much of a fight. She looked back to Merlin and frowned. It looked like he was arguing with Gaius! Morgana quickly tapped Gwen's leg to get her attention. Gwen turned from looking at Arthur's retreating back, to Morgana. She followed her lady's eyes and frowned when she saw Merlin and Gaius arguing.

"Can you see what they are saying?" Morgana whispered to Gwen, Gwen tried to focus but they were simply to far away to clearly see what they said.

"No, but if I have your permission, I would like to go assist Gaius with Sir Ewan." Morgana immediately nodded and Gwen stood. She looked back over to where Merlin and Gaius were and saw that they were no longer there. Gwen quickly walked toward the physician chambers, only to be stopped by Arthur.

"Ah, Guinevere. Have you seen Merlin?" She shook her head.

"No, my lord." She curtsied and began to walk away again.

"He has been horrible all day. I had to double his work load. When you see him, tell him I have his new list of chores." Gwen stopped and glared back at the prince. At his shocked look she quickly curtsied again and left. Arthur didn't bother to stop her again.

She entered the physician chambers to see Sir Ewan still lying on the bed, fighting for his life against the poison. She looked around and saw Merlin's door ajar and she knew that his candle would have alerted him that someone was here. She walked up to the door and slowly opened it. The sight of her brother sitting on the bed with a vacant look made her stop dead in her tracks.

"Merlin?" He didn't move. She sighed and sat next to him against his headboard.

"Am I a freak?" He asked suddenly, Gwen gasped.

"What? Why would you think that?!" She admonished him. Merlin shrugged.

"I have magic." Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I know that. I have known that since you saved my life from that runaway horse when we were kids." Merlin smiled slightly and Gwen grasped his forearm.

"What's wrong?" She repeated her question from last night. He sighed.

"Knight Valiant has a magic shield. The snakes? They come alive. And he used it to poison Sir Ewan. I saw the snakes come to life yesterday. When I told Gaius, he told me that nothing I would say against Valiant would hold up in court. Because I'm a servant… and because I am deaf."

Gwen sat and stared at Merlin.

"Who cares if you are a servant? Or deaf! If Valiant is cheating you have to tell Arthur!"

The door opened suddenly and the two young adults looked up to see Gaius. He sighed and rubbed his face.

"Merlin, about what I said yesterday... Look, Uther wouldn't really listen to you or me, but you are right. We can't let Valiant get away with this." Merlin nodded, Gwen formed an idea.

"If you could cure Ewan, he could tell the king that Valiant was using magic!" Gwen said happily.

"The king would believe another knight. But how do we get the antidote?" Gaius asked, looking at Merlin.

"I need a lookout." Merlin grabbed Gwen's hand and the two left, leaving Gaius behind, worrying about them being caught.

Gwen followed Merlin thought the castle, to where, she assumed, Knight Valiant's guest chambers were.

Merlin turned to her.

"I am going to go in and try to kill one of the snakes. You stay out here, if Valiant comes, close the door." Gwen looked at him apprehensively and slowly nodded, Merlin opened the door and left it open.

Gwen glanced around the hall with fear in her eyes. Merlin was always getting her into trouble, but nothing like this! She gasped when she heard hissing come from the room and the sound of a sword cutting through flesh. Merlin ran out of the room, closing the door behind him and grabbed her hand.

He started to head back to the physician chambers, but she heard footsteps coming their way rapidly. She quickly turned them around and bolted the other way. He followed her lead, trusting her to lead them to safety.

Gwen led him to the only safe place she could think of that was close, Morgana's chambers. He stopped when they reached her door and he shook his head.

"We can trust her, we need a noble who will believe us!" Merlin tried to block her movements but was too late and Gwen had opened the door and pushed him in.

Morgana was at her window, reading when the door opened suddenly and she saw Gwen push Merlin into the room and close the door. Both of them were taking deep breaths, as if they were running from something.

"Gwen? What has happened?" Morgana asked as she walked over to them, placing her hand on both of their shoulders.

She looked at Merlin in worry, she had not been able to sit down and talk with him since before the incident with Mary Collins. She suddenly screamed and stepped back when she saw what he was holding in his hand. Merlin looked up when he felt her hand leave his shoulder and paled when he saw her mouth open and her eyes wide. He followed her eyesight and noticed that she saw the snake head he was holding.

"What is that!?" Morgana backed away as she spoke, Merlin quickly hid the snake head behind his back, then looked to Gwen to explain.

"Evidence that Knight Valiant is cheating by using magic." Gwen didn't bother to sign, but she didn't see the look of frustration cross Merlin's face.

"Valiant is cheating? With magic?" Merlin looked at Morgana with gratitude when she used her hands and her voice to talk.

"Yes. He poisoned Sir Ewan, Merlin went to his chambers to drop off a potion and saw him feeding the snakes! We went and he cut off its head for an antidote." Gwen finished explaining and she turned toward Merlin for him to agree, only to see him looking at her with an expression she had never seen before. Anger.

"What?" She asked him. He shook his head and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Gwen went to move after him but Morgana's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Gwen, what was Gaius and he arguing about today? And why was he so upset last night?"

"Oh… Gaius told him that even if we found proof, his word would not count since he was a servant… and deaf." Morgana's eyes flashed. "But, why was he so upset, right this moment?" Gwen wondered and Morgana raised her eyebrow.

"…Maybe he feels left out." Morgana said tentatively. Gwen's eyes widened as she figured it out and she looked at her hands.

"I left him out of the conversation. I just… left him out! I've never done that before!" Gwen left the room, to follow her brother. She ran until she entered the physicians chambers and she did not see Merlin. Gaius was working on a potion.

"Gaius, is Merlin here?" Gaius turned toward her, shaking his head.

"He dropped of this snake head, then left." She took a deep breath.

"Gaius, I left him out of a conversation." Gaius raised his eyebrow.

"You have never done that before? What happened?" Gwen shook her head.

"I don't know, I wasn't thinking, we had just run from Knight Valiant's chambers to Morgana's. I was explaining to Morgana why we had a snake head." Gaius sighed and shook his head.

"He is sensitive right now. And it is partially my fault. I told him that no one would believe him about Valiant. And I stupidly used his deafness to make him see how his word would mean nothing in court." Gaius confided. Gwen nodded in understanding.

"Well, we need to find him. We need to tell Arthur about Valiant cheating in the tournament." Gaius handed her the snake head and gestured to the door.

"You will need this. And Gwen, tell Merlin I am proud of him. You both are very brave." Gwen nodded and left the room, heading toward Merlin's favorite thinking place. The battlements. She halfway there when she heard her name being called.

"Guinevere!" Gwen sighed and turned toward the prince.

"Yes, milord?" He looked at her with eyebrows raised.

"Have you seen Merlin? He never came back to my chambers." Gwen shook her head.

"No, milord. I have not seen him." Arthur growled.

"I should just sack him, he obviously can't keep up with all the chores. He is useless." Gwen's eyes flashed in anger.

"Don't you dare say that about him!" Her eyes widened as her mouth took a mind of its own and… chastised the prince of Camelot! Arthur's jaw dropped and he stared at the serving girl.

"I'm sorry milord, I didn't mean to cause offense." Gwen quickly curtsied and backed away. Arthur stepped closer to her.

"I could throw you in the stocks for that." He threatened, Gwen swallowed and kept her eyes to the floor. "But I won't; you think I am oblivious to my friends? I noticed he was distracted this morning, more so than usual. What is going on?"

Gwen simply held out the snake head, and Arthur frowned.

"What is this?" He took it from Gwen and looked at it curiously.

"It is the snake that bit Sir Ewan." Gwen looked up to see Arthur examining the fangs. He scoffed.

"Surely you must be mistaken. Sir Ewan fell during a duel. There were no snakes." Gwen took a deep breath.

"He was fighting Knight Valiant, he has a shield with three snakes." She said boldly. Arthur tensed, grabbed her arm, and pulled her out of the hallway.

"Do you want to get yourself killed?!" He whispered harshly, she ripped her arm out of his grip and stepped back.

"You can talk to Gaius, you will see the puncture wounds in Ewan's neck. Valiant is using magic!" Gwen whispered back, equally harsh. Arthur blinked at her tone of voice and smirked.

"Why is it, that you always forget who you are talking to? You can't talk to me like that." Gwen resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Did you hear me, Milord? Valiant is using magic!" Arthur looked at her in amazement at her sass, then looked at the snake head.

"How did you get this snake head if it only come to life with magic?" Arthur asked, Gwen looked at him blandly.

"I didn't get it. Merlin did." Arthur nodded curtly and motioned back to the hallway.

"I want to talk to him as well. Now, where is he?" She sighed and started walking, knowing he would follow.


So many of you may have questions re: this chapter and Merlin's insecurities. This behavior is normal in the kids I work with (I work with middle school/high school Deaf children) and I am trying to show you all the insecurities and fears I see in my own kids. The moment someone doesn't believe in them, i see them become self conscious about themselves. I hope I delivered that point in a way where it still keeps our favorite people in character :) Arthur in this AU is just a different person, not as much as a prat and oblivious as he is in the show :) Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

-Ebop